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KDE 4.0 stable is now available for Linux. This new release of KDE 4 includes a whole lot of new improvements like a whole new desktop shell Plasma, better look and feel with Oxygen artwork, hardware acceleration in KWin, a new document file viewer Okular, improved KDE applications and lot more.

Here is how you can install KDE 4 on your existing Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon install.

1. First remove any previous KDE 4 packages you have installed. Fire up a terminal window and type sudo apt-get remove kdelibs5 kde4base-data kde4libs-data
2. Then open up your sources list with /etc/apt/sources.list
3. At the end of the file add deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-members-kde4/ubuntu gutsy main
4. Now run apt-get update
5. Next to install KDE4 type in terminal apt-get install kde4-core
6. You will get a warning that the packages are not authenticated. Hit Y for that warning.
7. Log out and then you will be able to run a full session by selecting “KDE 4″ from your login manager.

Thats it. I am installing KDE 4 now on my Gutsy install.

Will post I have posted some screenshots of KDE 4 when its over.

Source

With the fourth major version, the KDE Community marks the beginning of the KDE 4 era.

Beginning today, KDE 4.0 is available for immediate use by Linux enthusiasts. After half a year of development, KDE 4.0 stable is finally available. KDE 4 is the next generation of the popular K Desktop Environment the alternative to GNOME desktop environment.

New in KDE 4

• A new desktop shell called Plasma. Plasma provides a panel, a menu and other intuitive means to interact with the desktop and applications.
• KWin, KDE’s window manager, now supports advanced compositing features. Hardware accelerated painting takes care of a smoother and more intuitive interaction with windows
• New Oxygen artwork in KDE 4 to provide a consistent look and feel along all applications.
• KDE Applications have been improved. Visual updates through vector-based artwork, changes in the underlying libraries, user interface enhancements, new features, even new applications are now in KDE 4.
• KDE 4 also ships with Dolphin an alternative to Konqueror file manager.
• A new file viewer Okular is included. Okular makes use of the new underlying KDE technologies.

This is just a small list. Lots of more changes are there.

You can find the complete list in KDE 4 announcement available on the KDE blog.

Came across this new Linux distribution called Linux Mint.  Linux Mint is an Ubuntu-based distribution which provides a complete out-of-the-box experience by including browser plugins, media codecs, support for DVD playback, Java and other components with the default install.

Ubuntu rocks as a Linux distribution but it somewhat falls short of the expectations of users who are switching to Linux from Windows. No multimedia codecs, no DVD support and a orange theme for default. So if you are a Ubuntu fanboy and want a fully multimedia capable Linux distro with a fresh and bright Mint theme then try Linux Mint.

Here are 5 great reasons to swap your Ubuntu distro with Linux Mint :

• You get all multimedia codecs with the default install. You can even play YouTube videos by default. So no hunting around sites and doing apt-get install.
• Get rid of the Ubuntu brown theme. Linux Mint ships with a fresh and bright Mint theme.
• The latest release Linux Mint Daryna is also compatible with the Ubuntu Gutsy repositories. So you can still use you favorite Gutsy softwares.

After using it for the last 10 days, I am impressed with the experience. The tag line for Linux Mint “From future freedom came elegance” aptly fits the distro which builds upon the solid foundation provided bu Ubuntu Linux. Linux Mint has not only added upon the features of Ubuntu Linux but also gone in for an aesthetic makeover something like Flock is for Mozilla Firefox.

So if you want a full-featured Linux distro which is usable right from the beginning try Linux Mint.

Linux Mint Home

Linux Mint Screenshots

With Pidgin 2 yet to make an appearance in Ubuntu Feisty repositories even after two weeks of its release, I was a getting a little bit impatient to use it. So I resorted to the manual method of installing it. You can get the plain Pidgin 2 deb from GetDeb. But it is no fun using Pidgin without any plugins. So my friend Kalpik has compiled a .deb for all the Pidgin plugins and put it up for download.

Install Pidgin 2 with all plugins

• Download Pidgin 2 from GetDeb.
• Download lib-notify from GetDeb.
• Download Plugin pack from Kalpik’s blog.

Install the above packages and there you have it… Pidgin 2 running with all plugins on Ubuntu Feisty.

P.S. - Pidgin will not replace Gaim in your system. Rather they will both be available in your system. If you want to remove Gaim, you can uninstall Gaim manually or wait for the Pidgin update in repos which will automatically remove Gaim.